AS I SEE IT – The 2012 Year End Awards

AS I SEE IT – The 2012 Year End Awards
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheetshttp://pwbts.com

Happy New Year to all of you.

As 2012 ends and 2013 begins, it’s time for the 16th annual AS I SEE IT Year-End Review. As usual, I should note that my selections are based on what I’ve actually seen this year, either live, online, on TV, or via tape/DVD; which primarily means North American wrestling.

2012 PROMOTION OF THE YEAR:

WWE – Bottom line is that they drew the biggest crowds, made the most money, and had the largest impact on the wrestling industry in 2012. TNA has had quality matches…but has driven away so many fans that no one watches them. Ring of Honor has had quality matches, but between limited TV access, disastrous iPPV broadcasts (or lack thereof) when tremendous matches took place.

2011 winner: WWE

2010 winner: Ring of Honor

2009 winner: WWE

2008 winner: Ring of Honor

2007 winner: Ring of Honor

2006 winner: Ring of Honor

2005 winner: Ring of Honor

2004 winner: Ring of Honor

2003 winner: Ring of Honor

2002 winner: Ring of Honor

2001 winner: WWF

2000 winner: WWF

1999 winner: WWF

1998 winner: WWF

1997 winner: WCW

2012 WRESTLER OF THE YEAR:

CM Punk, WWE- Imagine CM Punk not being part of WWE this year. Ask yourself what those of us who are still watching RAW on a regular basis would possibly be watching, besides limited shots of Chris Jericho, Ric Flair, and The Rock. Ask yourself who in WWE is as valuable on a mike when injured as when he’s in the ring.

Dictionary definition of a one trick pony: someone who does one thing well, but has limited skills in other areas. Thus, you have Brodus Clay.

Cute, maybe even occasionally entertaining ring entrance…the first hundred or so times. Then it gets boring, and you realize his “matches” are taking up time on WWE TV during which you could be watching Dolph Ziggler or CM Punk in the ring, or even just scratching your ear, burping, or sleeping. The Great Khali only escapes due to the fact that he hasn’t affected (infected?) our TV screens this year on a fulltime schedule.

2011 “winner”: The Great Khali

2010 “winner”: Lacey Von Erich, TNA

2009 “winner”: The Great Khali, WWE

2008 “winner”: The Great Khali , WWE

2007 “winner”: Adam “Pacman” Jones, TNA

2006 “winner”: Boogeyman, WWE

2005 “winner”: Boogeyman, WWE

2004 “winner”: Heidenreich, WWE

2003 “winner”: Nathan Jones, WWE

2002 “winner”: Shane Douglas, Major League Wrestling/XPW

2001 “winner”: Buff Bagwell, WCW/WWF/independent

2000 “winner”: Kevin Nash, WCW

1999 “winner”: Hulk Hogan, WCW

1998 “winner”: Giant Silva, WWF

1997 “winner”: Hulk Hogan, WCW

2012 TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR:

The Briscoe Brothers:. At the end of 2012, this is the one team that shows tag team WRESTLING to me. Not comedy therapy sessions (yes, I laughed at them too). Not tag team champions trying to show us how to do gangnam. But just plain kick-ass, good technical wrestling. The Briscoes won the Ring of Honor Tag Team Titles for the eighth time on December 16 at Final Battle, and seem to be the one thing that ownership changes, booking changes, iPPV fiascoes can’t screw up.

The Rock vs. John Cena. Imagine you’re Vince McMahon. You’ve rolled the dice to announce the main event of WrestleMania…one year in advance. People can get hurt, get sick, or worse in a year. Well, what was billed as a “once in a lifetime” match between the top names of the Attitude Era and the current day, wound up creating the most financial lucrative WrestleMania to date with new records for PPV buys and sale numbers, with 1.3 million buys totaling $67 million (including the event gate). Oh, and the match itself was great to watch as well

A year’s worth of hype on and off, including the hilarious Rock at Boston Harbor skit showing a list of John Cena gimmicks (at least of which were legitimate) to set up Cena as “corporate shill”, built all this up in a masterful way…even if we weren’t so sure at the time.

2012- A tie between the 2012 Linda McMahon campaign and the use of Jerry Lawler’s heart attack (aspects like inserting fake snoring or backstage still shots of CPR being performed as dramatic fodder).

A lot of year-end polls will pick the CM Punk/ Paul Heyman angle the night Lawler returned. As I’ve said before, the Lawler stuff didn’t offend me as it usually would, given that I fully expect Lawler himself wrote half of it…or at least suggested big chunks of it.

Given that Linda McMahon running for the Senate and losing for the second time is completely in the “real world”, and that WWE supported her in a not very thinly veiled way (but enough to protect themselves legally); I think that’s a helluva lot more distasteful. Raise your hands if you think their sudden support of the Susan G. Komen Republican/conservative backed breast cancer organization right around the time of the campaign is a total coincidence. Nah, didn’t think so.

Ok, Vince. Now that Linda’s had her two shots at things…can we get back to grown-up wrestling again? Doesn’t have to be the Attitude Era. We don’t need women barking like dogs, or “Hot Lesbian Action”. But could we at least have the BEST aspects of it?

In 2012, the ECW Arena… as we knew it… ceased to exist on February 2, 2012. It’s had an interesting saga since then. It was to close, in order to be converted into a concert hall. The insides of the Arena was indeed gutted. Gas, water and electrical power service was indeed cut off. But a strange thing happened at Swanson and Ritner. It seems, just like XPW, the last time someone tried to change this longtime wrestling venue….that the new owner wasn’t able to get a concert permit from the city of Philadelphia.

So for all of you a year ago, who raised bloody hell with city officials, the actual owners of the ECW Arena, and even the owner of the Trocadero…you may have had more success than you thought. We may find out more about this very shortly.

Without question, it is the case that, since February 2012, independent wrestling in Philadelphia has been greatly limited, with only occasional ROH and Extreme Rising shows at the Northeast Armory, and small neighborhood shows by CZW. Coincidentally or not, two shows were run by CHIKARA Pro Wrestling at the Trocadero, the venue run by the individual who attempted to take over the Arena (and who ran the Trocadero into Bankruptcy Court). CZW, the promotion that ran most frequently at the Arena (and believe it or not, has actually run more shows and for a longer period than ECW itself did) has run shows in suburban South Jersey this year. While they’ve slowly and consistently regained the crowds they lost by the move to South Jersey, there are still people who can’t or won’t come over to South Jersey due to location or inability to access the venue (there is no real public transportation to it).

Other stories in 2012 include: Jerry Lawler’s heart attack on live TV, an event that got press coverage way over and above what any single wrestling story would have been expected; the disastrous decision to go to a three-hour RAW, the non-start of the WWE Network, and Ring of Honor’s problems (including booking turnover and numerous iPPV fiascoes)

2011 stories: CM Punk vs. WWE; Sinclair Broadcasting purchase of Ring of Honor; Zack Ryder uses social media to get over; Randy Savage’s death ; Self destructive saga of the Hardy Brothers; End of ECW Arena as it exists

2010 stories: Linda McMahon’s failed United States Senate campaign, the consequent attacks on wrestling by politicians and mainstream media for past storyrlines during the Attitude Era, as well as steroid and other drug deaths were featured all over msintream media during 2010…increased awareness by WWE and TNA of the long-term effect of concussions (including the possible effect they may have had in the Benoit family tragedy)….with the retirement of Shawn Michaels and Undertaker and HHH off of TV; WWE finally started a long-overdue youth movement with major pushes for The Miz, CM Punk, Sheamus, Bryan Danielson, and John Morrison. TNA failed miserably at another attempt at Monday Night Wars, getting clobbered in the ratings, before going back quickly to their usual Thursday night taped program.

2003 stories: The epidemic of deaths within wrestling (many of which involved past or current drug and alcohol use), NWA-TNA survives for another year, continued problems with WWE house show/TV taping business, controversial and active Philadelphia independent scene

1999 stories: Deaths of Owen Hart and Brian Hildebrand, Foley’s “Have A Nice Day” goes to #1 on New York Times Best-Seller List, WWF CD DEBUTS at number 4 on Billboard Chart, ECW TV on TNN, Parents Television Council censorship attempts